Forgotten
by Tinna Minor
Summary: They were the sparks of Miners; hidden and forgotten by the Decepticon Fleet. But they were alive. Though they had lost everything, even their memories, they would survive. This is their story.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome one and all to Forgotten. I hope you'll all enjoy the wonderful ride I'm about to go on with our dear miners and single Vehicon.

First off, thank you for clicking the read button. I hope that you'll stick with me.

Second, thank you BlueInked for being the inspiring push and an amazing friend!

And last, this story starts two years before Transformers Prime begins. Thank you again.

* * *

_Pain was a constant. _

_It flowed through everything within him. It reminded him that he was alive. There had been a time where there had not been the pain, the heat, and the dark. He had tried to remember those times and the pain had faded, a light had appeared far off, and then heat had started to leave him. Desperately, he grasped the pain again. The heat had returned. The light left. _

_Pain was a constant. _

_It gave him a thousand sensations, awoke things within him that he had never known about. His life had passed through his optics time and time again. He remembered everything and felt, at first, despair. With the despair, the pain faded, the light came, the heat left. Despair was discarded, but he did not allow himself to hope either. Hope was for fools. He arrived at a middle ground. _

_Pain was a constant._

_The more he clung to pain, the more tired he became. Staying alive in his state was quite costly. It was also difficult. There was little to do, for his optical sensors were completely crushed by something and his audio receptors were shot but repairable. He couldn't even move, not because of the pain, but because his body had been torn apart. _

_Pain was a constant._

_It told him that he was alive. _

_And he would survive; as long as pain was a constant. _

* * *

He didn't know what to expect when he woke up. He didn't know anything. But he knew that most of his body was aching.

It sounded far off and in the distance, but there was someone speaking. Whether it was to him or to another, he couldn't tell. He didn't even know what the voice was saying.

His HUD screen was filled with error messages and reports on how long it would take to get his systems running again. His audio receptors were the closest to finished, at 97%. The optical bands would be next, at 91%. His full motor functions would be restored soon as well, at 89%.

He remained laying, trying to access his memory banks for what had caused the damage. His memory banks gave him error signals, claiming that files had been corrupted and were undergoing recovery. However, the recovery was at 0%. He could still store new memories and review them as they would not be corrupted.

There was a ping in his systems as his audio receptors were restored to full functionality. He turned them up slowly, listening to the voices around him.

"He looks like he's in good shape. That makes four."

"Four? Who are you not counting?"

"Despite being up and about, you're missing a whole arm. I'll need to find something to replace that with."

"Not right now, help me access his medical system."

He was aware of something moving him, pushing his head to the side so as to access his neck. He panicked and lashed out, arms flinging, and exclamations of surprise could be heard from the two others. His optical bands reactivated, and he stared at the two before him.

The one on the right was standing slightly, hunched over and looking ready to spring away. He couldn't make out many details in the dark lighting, but he could see that he had a single optical band working, and one above it flickering. His silhouette showed signs of dents and sharp edges, and there were purple glowing highlights below his chest.

The one to his left was sitting on his aft, cradling his head in a hand. Guilt seized him, and he came to the realization that the damage had probably been caused when he had flailed. The mech was the same model as his companion, with similar damage to his frame, except for one major difference: The mech did not have a left arm.

Another ping sounded in his processor letting him know that his motor systems had been restored, followed closely by a second one, telling him that his vocalizer was also ready for use.

"Sorry," he murmured, testing out his new vocalizer and attempting to sit up. He quickly fell back down and received an internal report stating that his balance programs were at 76%. He hummed slightly at the news before speaking again, this time clearly. "I thought you were trying to offline me."

"Why would we do that?" The mech to his right seemed to recoil at this statement, his voice caked with obvious anger and disgust that made him flinch for his excuse. At the same time, the mech with one arm nodded. The left mech's acceptance did nothing to make him feel better. His processor began to try and find an answer to the right mech's question. Why would they attempt to offline him? They were obviously trying to help him. There was no good answer to the right mech's question.

Slowly, the one-armed mech stood up and began to move towards him again. The right mech slowly and cautiously followed his associates lead.

"How are you feeling?" The one-armed mech asked, looking away from his optical band and surveying his damage. Oddly, he felt relaxed with the professional gaze. He quickly became under the impression that the mech with one arm had done such scans before.

"I'm feeling," he paused, trying to decipher his emotions, and then give them an appropriate label. "Lost?"

The one-armed mech nodded as the mech behind him shifted uneasily. The right mech looked him in the optical visor.

"Do you remember your name?" The right mech asked quietly. The look bordered on anxiety. Again, he tried to access his corrupted memory files. Nothing was extracted.

"Not yet," he told him. "Do you know who I am?"

The one-armed mech, who had been holding up his wrist for a closer look, froze. Behind him, the right mech seemed to be jumping in hysteria.

"I don't know who you are, I don't know who Patch is, I don't even know what my name is!" The right mech began to babble. "I woke up and it was dark, everything hurt though not that badly, and I saw Patch a few feet away, bleeding everywhere, trying to hold his energon tubes closed. I thought he was going to die! Then he looks at me and says that I'm wounded. He tries to make his way to me to fix me when he should be worrying about the fact that, oh, I don't know, he's missing a whole arm!"

He sighed at the right mech's rambling and turned to the one-armed mech. "So your name is Patch?"

The one-armed mech shrugged which was a disturbing sight to him. "That's what Brain has been calling me, because I've been patching up everyone we've come across."

"Oh," he whispered, turning back to the right mech called Brain as he had begun to whine down. "Why do you call him Brain?"

Patch chuckled, a nice sound to his audio receptors. "Because the mech can think. We came across this mech back in that tunnel," Patch jerked his head to the left, and when he turned to look in the direction, he could see the silhouette of another tunnel, "poor mech was burned to a crisp, Brain was the one who figured out how to turn remove his armour sensors and how to reattach his touch relays. Mech's resting at the moment in the main cavern. That's where we'll be going, when you feel up to moving."

As Patch said this, his processor pinged again, telling him he could move without stumbling. Slowly he stood again. Then he took a step forward. Patch and Brain, still slightly crouched over, shuffled back a bit before straightening their full height. They were both close to the same size, though he was the tallest by a small degree.

"I can move," he announced to Patch and Brain, "Show me where this cavern is."

Brain gave a high pitched chuckled that bordered on a short, "As you wish, my Liege."

Brain led the way, followed by Patch, and he came shortly after.

His memory recovery still read 0%.

* * *

See everyone in the next chapter. Cheers! :D


	2. Chapter 2

New Chapter Update. Why? Because this was ready to be published and I felt like it. For the record, Vehicon/Drone/Grunt fella is not Liege (yes, I'm calling him that). He'll wake up sooner or later. No naming, all my darling creations have names (though the Twins could use improvements).

Do not expect another chapter anytime soon. School has started again and I can't see a good opening for writing at the moment.

Again, thank you BlueInked. For reading this a being a friend. You are 'da best'!

* * *

_He did not fear pain. _

_He had been created as a destroyer. He had rolled off the assembly line as D-TE9-131999. He and his brothers had been trained in warfare, in battle, in the art of ripping another mech into pieces. He had been the strongest, standing out from his batch of fragments. Where others went into the fight and were broken, he had remained in one piece. When others had cried in pain, he had roared in defiance. While his so-called brothers had been content with their animosity, he had strove to stand out and make a name for himself. _

_He did not fear pain. _

_His batch had quickly died off. Some were killed by the Autobots, most died in their berths, still hooked up for recharge, but not knowing they would never awaken. His batch had been declared faulty, and the last few mechs, including him, had reported to a medical bay to discover the problem. The investigation had ended before 131999 and 132000 could hit the operating table. It was deemed that there had been too many fragments, and that they had not been given enough energy to survive. From then on, batches appeared in twenties rather than fifties. _

_He did not fear pain. _

_131999 had thrown himself into the war after that, 132000 dying the night after the fault had been discovered. He had made it his mission that if he were going to die, he would die a warrior on the battlefield rather than in his berth. He had survived a week before being called to the operating table. There it was discovered that he had stolen the majority of the energy from the shattering. His energy would remain stable for some time. He would live._

_He did not fear pain. _

_His fragment was the last of the batch to live. Others had learned that he was a survivor. He had survived an operation, he had gone into the battlefield more times than the average Vehicon could claim, he alone of his fragments would live. He made a new goal: to be remembered by the rest of the troopers, to become a legend like Lord Megatron. _

_He did not fear pain. _

_He feared being forgotten._

* * *

"He's a wreck!" Liege gaped at the mech in front of him. It could hardly be called a mech anymore. He and Brain had dragged him out of some rocks after the Twins had detected his energy signature. His armour was mostly gone, only a few bits remaining and his head appeared smashed, though his processor was in one piece. He was missing a leg and one of his hands. The worst was his chest. There was a stone spear impaling it. It might have been the only thing keeping his spark online. Liege didn't want to remove it without Patch in the area.

"Well, it's a dead end," Twin 1 spoke up. Liege turned to face him. Twin 1 was taller than he was with a sense of confidence that he envied. They were the same model, like everyone down here, but Twin 1 had been found with his fuel tank pierced. Twin 2 had remained in shock during Patch's operation to save him. Luckily the mech pulled through.

"We should leave him here," Twin 2 finished her brother's statement. She was a femme, which Liege felt was odd for some reason that he couldn't remember. She was shorter than her brother and favouring a feminine appearance. Other than that, she was the mirror image of her brother, which could be quite nerve racking.

"We're not supposed to move badly damaged mechs," Twin 1 continued.

"We're supposed to bring a medic to him," Twin 2 followed in perfect rhythm.

"Someone should go find Patch," Twin 1 nodded as he spoke.

"And bring him here," Twin 2 mirrored her twins movements.

"Instead of talking about it," Brain snarled as he went about the wreck's frame analysing damage, "Why don't you two go and get Patch?!"

The Twins looked at each other, then at the back at the wreck. In unison, they shrugged and turned back the way they came, heading to the cavern. Liege waited for them to leave before addressing Brain again.

"Will he live?" He whispered while taking mental notes on the damage.

"Well my Liege," Brain snarked pleasantly, "it's amazing that he's alive right now. Normally it would only take a fraction of this damage to kill us."

More information from the before; unexplained and untested but true. Everyone in this mine (more information from the before, it told them they were in a mine), had no memories of the before. His corrupted memory files' recovery was still at 0%. Everyone's recovery was 0%. Brain had been the one to discover that, and Liege had come to the conclusion that it didn't matter who they were Before, but to survive the After. He focused on that statement, revolving his new life around it.

There were sounds from the tunnel and Liege turned to see Patch being led by Twin 1, though he couldn't see Twin 2. The amateur medic took one look at the wreck and was suddenly by its side observing the damage.

"What have we got Brain?" Patch asked, tone professional and clipped. Liege watched as Brain began muttering, but Patch looked up at Liege sharply.

"I'm going to need energon," Patch stated coolly, and Liege shifted, "Go get some."

Liege didn't need to be told twice and he nearly ran out of sight, pausing only to glance at the wreck, hoping that he would survive. Then he was gone, moving back through the passage toward the cavern. Patch had said energon, there were a few deposits by the cavern but what would happen once those were gone? The wreck was in no position to be moved and Patch was still missing an arm. Block could walk a bit, but after a certain amount of movement his motor functions would stick, preventing further movement until he had undergone a full system reboot. Brain was working on a bypass, along with designing a new arm for Patch, but in order to do all these things, they would need raw materials and energon. Energon would be the most important.

His processor was worrying so much that he reverted to a 'before state'. Passively, he could see himself enter the cavern, pick up tools to mine a deposit, then get to work on one of the smaller deposits within the cavern's wall. He found that while he was occupied with mining, his processor could still easily compute the dangerous situation. He tried looking into his surroundings.

The cavern was an underground bubble, stretching out far enough that twelve of his model could lie side by side on the ground, but it was littered with tools and debris which had not yet been explained. There were a few small energon deposits in the walls that provided some light, but other than that, light beamers were in a small box and everyone had to carry some. Brain had been working on a map of the cavern and the four tunnels, which he had been etching into one of the cavern's walls, before being called to investigate the wreck.

In one corner was Block. Liege could see him from where he was working, off to his left. Block was stripped of most of his armour, revealing the bare circuitry underneath. According to Brain, Block's base protoform had been sensitized by whatever had melted most of his armour away, and could no longer support weight. That was another thing that Brain was designing, armour that Block could support. Brain was taking on a lot of projects, but Liege didn't know if he would ever find the time.

Liege hoisted up the raw energon crystals he had extracted and began to make his way to the refiner. It was a rather large machine and it was close to Block. Liege opened the chute before throwing his load into the mechanism. The procedure was simple, the crystals would be melted, then sifted through three different layers of metal sheets before being melted into cube form. Liege couldn't see the process through the machine, but he knew that it was happening. More information from the before. Memory Recovery: 0%.

"I'm sorry."

The voice snapped Liege out of his brooding and he turned to see Block looking at him, his two red visors dim but awake.

Liege shook his head, grateful to leave his darkening thoughts. "I don't understand what you're apologizing about."

"I can't help you mine energon," Block was whispering now, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Liege forced himself to chuckle. He couldn't let them see he was afraid. He couldn't let them see anything. Suddenly, there were too many people in the small enclosed space. All the people were looking at him. In the corner of his duel optical band, Liege could see the Twins walking in. He wondered where they had been.

"Why do they call you Liege?" Block asked as the Twins took a seat on some crates and began to make hand gestures, seemingly in a heated discussion about something though Liege couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Brain says I'm the leader," Liege told Block truthfully. "Why does he call you Block?"

Block shifted uncomfortably on the ground, but before Liege could offer to find him something, he spoke up, "Patch had just removed my armour, and we had begun walking through the tunnels to here. About half way, my motor systems shut down, and Patch couldn't get past me. Brain claimed I was blocking up the tunnel."

Liege nodded to the story as a cube exited the refiner.

"Who's it for?" Block asked looking at the cube.

"We found another mech in third tunnel, all the way towards the end under some rubble," Liege notified him, "Patch needs energon."

Liege turned to go through the third tunnel, but paused upon seeing the Twins still deep in whatever world they were speaking in.

"Twins," he called and found two visors snapping towards him. The claustrophobic feeling returned, but he had demanded their attention. He needed to say what he needed to say.

He turned on his vocalizer only for silence to come forth. Panicked, Liege rebooted it, then tried again.

"We're going to need energon," he told them, the words seeming to stick in his throat, much to his displeasure. "The two of you will have to mine some while I take this to Patch."

"How can we mine?" Twin 1's voice came forth smoothly, without the effort that it took for Liege to speak.

"When we don't know how?" Twin 2 seemed to be giggling, as if mocking Liege, making him more uncomfortable.

"I'll show you how to use the equipment," Block spoke up while pushing himself to stand, "I can do that, at least."

The Twins looked at each other, but Liege couldn't understand what passed through their gaze. But Patch needed the energon, so he turned his back on the situation and began his ascent back into the tunnels.

His memory recovery was still at 0%.


	3. Chapter 3

And we're back!

Felt like it was time for another post, seeing as Blue and I haven't posted anything in a while. Here's a new chapter with one daring Miner and one mysterious Vehicon.

Thanks again for editing BlueInked!

Enjoy!

* * *

_He could hear voices. _

_Shortly after coming off the assembly line, he had seen members of his batch being carted to reassembly. Their frames had been grey, their visors dark, and their hands still. He had asked the closet trooper, an Eradicon, what was wrong. The Eradicon had hitched up his wings at his voice, but when he had turned to look at him, there was only the look of pity, and the drooping of those proud wings. The Eradicon had told him that they were dead. _

_He could hear voices. _

_Death was a strange concept to him. Every Miner, Vehicon, and Eradicon came online with three objectives: Serve the officers and Lord Megatron first and foremost; Kill all the Autobots, the enemies of Lord Megatron; and Stay Alive. Miners, he had been told later, had an extra second objective: Mine the resources for the Decepticon Empire. These objectives were the first things entered into a drone's memory bank, and set the fundamentals for the rest of their short lives. They were all told that death was just another road to victory._

_He could hear voices. _

_Seeing the bodies of his batch did nothing to make him question these ideals. He assumed that his brothers had died in the field of battle, despite the lack of damage to their structures. He had learned two nights later that they had died in recharge when he had awoken to his brother's grey corpse. The implications of this had shocked him. He had always been told that Decepticons went offline proudly in the heat of battle. These deaths were empty. These deaths had no purpose. These deaths were disgraceful. _

_He could hear voices. _

_Sometimes the voices sounded like his many brothers in their shameful deaths. They whispered to him, tempting him closer and closer to the cold and to the darkness. Other times he could hear unfamiliar voices, murmuring and seemingly bringing more pain. Most times he heard nothing. There would silence and the only thing he would know would be the pain, and still he grasped it. If the unfamiliar voices were those of a medic, then he was recovering. If they were the voices of the dead, then he was dying. If it were the voices of the humans that had brought him into this mess in the first, then he would be betraying the Decepticons. And if it was none of those, then only Primus knew what would become of him. _

_He could hear voices. _

_He feared those voices. _

* * *

Liege walked along the east tunnel with his pick and saw. The Twins had verified another source of energon and he was the only one available to mine these far off ones. Patch and Brain had figured out how to adjust Block's protoform so that he could mine the deposits in the cavern, but he still couldn't move far. Patch was reluctant to leave the wreck's side without further progress in his repairs. Brain was busy with his maps and blueprints.

Brain's current project was designing Patch a new arm. That meant metal deposits. It also meant drilling. Block could operate a drill. The Twins were updating their internal scanners to find ore. All of this meant they needed more energon. But what would happen with they ran out?

Liege felt another headache coming and he shook his head, trying to focus on his present work. He held up his light and his scanner whistled, stating that energon had been found. However, there was a good 14 feet of rock between himself and the deposit. Not far enough for a drill, but enough for him to spend some time carefully picking at the rocks.

He put the scanner away and attached the light to his collar. He heaved his pick up and then down into the stone walls. He repeated this motion again, and again, and again. There was something comforting about his pick. It was a good friend that, despite his memory loss, still knew him and it gave him a purpose. The pick wasn't purple, like most of the machines down here, but a solid red, glowing like his optical band in the dark, like energon in the cavern, like fire.

_Fire_

Liege paused in his work. What was fire? Where had that word come from? He accessed his memory banks to see his recovery still at zero. His search in his language module proved more fruitful.

Fire: the rapid production of light, heat, and flames from something that is burning.

His hand reached for his chest. He had seen such a thing in the wreck's chest. There had been pale white light. There had been warmth. He pushed his chest plates open and turned off his light stick.

Deep golden glow came from his chest plates. He brought a hand close and felt warmth escaping. Cold was invading his inner workings, so he quickly closed them again. But he didn't turn back on his light stick, choosing instead to stare at his pick axe. He brought it up so he could get a better look at it. He peered right into the red blade, his processor claiming that he had found something important.

Something was wrong. Something was right. His processor continued to buzz to the point that he was in pain. He didn't go back to work this time. He did not try to distract himself. He focused on the pain and continued his train of thought.

Fire was in his chest plates. It kept him warm, pulsing, pushing energon everywhere. It kept him alive. The wreck had been leaking a lot of energon, but the spike had missed his fire. Because it had missed, the wreck had managed to live. The fire had kept him alive as well. But was there a difference in a mech's fire?

Liege looked into his pick axe, seeing a fire there as well. Energy moved throughout the tool. It had been made for the purpose of mining energon. It had been made for him. Maybe it had been made by him. But there was a similar light in it. A spark of something he couldn't identify. But this was right. He held this tool and things were right.

Liege took his pick and brought it down again with the required amount of force. From the crack, light spilled forth.

_Energon _

He pushed his pick back in, catching the crack where energon and rock had been parted, and he pulled. Rock cracked again, and more blue beams came. He gave another jerk. The rock fell to the floor, leaving him with a clear view of the large energon deposit. He moved his pick to the other side and repeated the process. The floor was littered with debris, but he ignored it while placing his pick down. He took out his saw, steadying the laser on his knee while taking hold of the energon with his other hand. He cut carefully looking for natural fissures in the crystal. A piece came off, then another, and another.

Soon the floor was covered in the freed crystals. There were too many for him to carry back on his own. Liege took a moment to survey his handiwork. He had stripped most of the crystals, but there was still a layer of blue left. He found he was reluctant to take it all. He reached out his hand again and simply placed it on the planted crystals.

Planted

Perhaps they would grow back. He nodded to himself as he picked up a few crystals and his axe. It was time to return to the cavern. Perhaps they would find another ore and they could leave this one alone for a while. It would be like an experiment. Brain might like it.

His feet moved him through the tunnel, stepping on the familiar ground and hitching on hidden cracks in the floor. It was dark, and he had not turned on his light stick, but he didn't feel the need to. This dark was familiar; as right as his pick. There was nothing to fear.

The cavern came into sight.

He stepped into the light without hesitation.

* * *

AN:  
When I first wrote this chapter, I really thought it would just be one where Liege and our wreck would experience a little character building. Maybe also get some world building in on energon for my own nerdiness.

Then Blue pointed out to me that I used the word light a lot in this chapter.

The amounts of 'light' have gone down but I still realize that my beloved subconscious was at work. Light can mean many things, like to be enlightened with knowledge or to make light to see your surroundings.

Makes me wonder where Mr. Subconscious is taking this...

I guess we'll find out...


	4. Chapter 4

In celebration for the Transformers Prime season 3 announcement. March 22nd! I'm going to try and have another chapter out on that day, or the day after... :)

Thanks again for editing BlueInked! You're amazing and you know it so clap your hands! *clap clap*

Writing with other people to help inspire you is amazing. Everyone should try it.

Not sure if it's been officially announced, and I'm too lazy to go see if it is, so I'm going to just say that Forgotten and Defiance are set in the same universe, just at different times.

And to the chapter!

* * *

_He had begun to scream. _

_The silence would stretch on until the voices returned. He grew afraid of the voices. They told him that things were not in his control. That he would soon pass on as the others did. His Decepticon programming told him that he would die a useless death as his brothers had. For the first time in his life cycle, he fought against the code that had guided him throughout life. _

_He had begun to scream. _

_There had been rumours of drones that had worn down their Decepticon programming to the point where personality had begun to appear. He had never met one. But as he began to fight his programming, he realized just how weak it had become throughout the years of his short life. He didn't touch the final objective; he did want to live, after all. The others were his enemy. They told him that he was no longer of use. They told him that he should stop wasting his superiors' resources. _

_He had begun to scream. _

_Screaming brought on another source of pain to grasp onto. He didn't know if he was making noise or not, but that didn't matter as much. Screaming filled the silence that tried to drag him to his death. Screaming liberated him for a brief moment. _

_He had begun to scream. _

_The voices were becoming harder to understand. He preferred it this way. His Decepticon programming was nearly gone. If he survived this trauma, there could be no return to his former position. It would mean a new life. He would have to find something else to live for; something to be remembered for. He wanted to be worth something. He wanted to be alive. _

_He had begun to scream. _

_His screams were for what he had lost. _

* * *

"That's awfully far," Liege pointed out.

The twins shrugged.

"We're looking for metal deposits," Twin 1 stated.

"They're not going to be near here," Twin 2 pointed out.

"Still," Liege murmured, looking at the scanner again, "32 miles at that angle will be difficult. Even with Block at the controls, we won't be able to tell the iron apart from the stone."

"That's what we-" Twin 1 chuckled.

"-Are here for," Twin 2 giggled.

Liege shook his head at the twins before turning to Block. The bruised miner didn't look especially happy either, his visor looking at the ground in what could be either sulking or thinking.

"Well," Block looked up at them, resigned, "I better get started."

Block turned and made his way to the large drill that they had found. It was in one piece and working properly, according to larger miner. Block himself was still lacking armour attachments, but Brain and Patch had made him an aft piece and feet pads so he could move around. They'd be able to make him some more armour once they had gotten some of resources.

Brain stood in the corner, prepared to begin the documenting of another tunnel. He had finished his map and was looking forward to adding to it. Patch was with the wreck still. They had taken to covering part of the tunnel now so that the erratic screams wouldn't wake the rest of them out of recharge. No one knew why the wreck had started to scream. Brain thought it might be the pain, but Patch had pointed out that if anything, the pain should have lessened with his work.

The sounds of the engine filled the cavern, echoing off the walls and returning to audios with a constant groan. Liege watched as Block shifted the gears so that the drill would move forward. When it came in contact with the wall, Liege saw the drill begin to spin and tear out the rocky wall, forming a large hole with a scream matching the audacity of the wreck's. The hole grew in size and length as Block pushed forward. Liege reached for his pick and heaved it to his shoulder before following the machine in its descent.

Behind him, Liege could no longer hear his fellow miners, but he could see them following. The twins had engaged in another silent dialogue while Brain was fiddling with a stone slab, probably making notes of some kind. Liege ignored them, focusing on his path and the mineral content around him. His mind began to wander and he began thinking about the energon cultivation he had started in the Liege Tunnel, as Brain had named it after Liege had claimed the tunnel for himself.

A few days after refining the crystals he had mined, Liege had returned to find the crystals he had left in the wall had grown in the smallest fraction. But they had grown. There were a few stray shards of energon on the ground that Liege had decided could not be refined, but after seeing the implanted energon, Liege had gathered up the remaining crystals and buried them in the other wall. They were his project.

Quickly, he had grown afraid that one of the others might go into his tunnel and try to strip them from the ground. The solution was obvious: move in with the crystals. He had been reluctant at first. The others all recharged together in the cavern. Block recharged in his spot, lying out with hands clasped behind his head. On the other side, the twins had taken to cuddling together, hands tangled and heads on each other's shoulders. Patch laid on his back, often grabbing at where his lost arm had once been attached. Brain could be seen in one of the corners curled up with his hands pillowing his head on the ground.

It felt strange to leave those people for the recharge cycle. He had used to remain awake, staring at the energon crystals at the top of their ceiling. They weren't big enough to mine, but they reminded him of something, as he had stared into the darkness above that seemed to stretch on forever. Their faint lights gave him a sense of hope.

Moving out had been strange, but worth it. Instead of staring at the ceiling, he stared at his little shards, watching them grow. He would feed them stones and minerals that were unessential to machine repair, and them seemed to love those treats he found. When he wasn't focused on the mine around him, his energy was directed at the crystals.

Liege returned to reality in time to stop moving as the drill powered down. They couldn't have reached their destination already.

"There's energon here," Block's voice called over to them, "I need to back up so the drill can get around without damaging the energon."

Liege nodded to his companion and moved back a bit. Brain didn't appear very happy with having to move back, watching the ground with his light and glancing back at his slab for directions. The twins were watching Brain and shaking as they moved back. Liege couldn't tell if they were angry or amused.

When Brain had moved the proper amount of distance, Liege shouted to Block, "Clear!"

The roaring returned, perhaps louder than before, echoing throughout the new tunnel and into Liege's audios. He simply turned them down. He could still see Brain jump though, and it made him chuckle. Chuckling caused him to pause.

He had found Brain's antics funny; but why? Was it the way he had jumped? Was it fear in Brain's movements? Or was it something else entirely? Was he amused by Brain himself?

Shaking his head again, Liege focused on the drill as it turned and began to dig again. Perhaps he was overanalysing everything. He seemed to be doing that a lot.

As the drill continued, Liege became aware that Brain was sticking rather close to him. Liege decided to ignore him. Instead, he focused on the rocky texture beneath his feet with every step, trying to get a feel for the new tunnel as Brain was, but in a different way.

The rock down here was warmer than it was closer to the surface, but it was also sharper. Stones dug into his feet, stabbing the armour that was rapidly wearing away. He was going to be in need of repairs soon, but he couldn't afford to stop mining. At the moment, he was the only one that could mine efficiently. Brain was wrapped up in his equations, Block couldn't pick up a pick axe though he understood the process, the twins would run off the moment they were out of someone's sight, and Patch had a patient. Brain could claim all he wanted that they just needed new parts, new equipment, and they'd be alright, but Liege no longer believed that.

What they needed, Liege decided, was a leader. They needed someone to give them a direction, to get people working, and to inspire them.

Perhaps when the wreck was repaired, they'd gain that leadership. The wreck wouldn't be operational for a long time though, so until then, he would just have to hope for the best.

The drill stopped again. This time, they had arrived at their destination.

Brain stepped forward, holding up a light and directing it towards the walls. Liege supposed that he was looking at the ceiling. The twins were still in whatever world they went to by themselves.

"Brain," Block's voice came from the drill. "I can't move."

Liege looked over to see Brain climbing into the drill. He sighed before turning to the twins.

"Come on," they looked up at him in shock. The claustrophobic feeling returned with their attention. He felt smaller, the walls pushing in, vents choking, optical band going slightly fuzzy.

Liege turned away from the twins and took out his pick, moving towards the closest ore deposit. It was labeled copper by his handheld scanner. He placed the scanner back onto his hip magnet after he measured the ore deposit in his head. Taking a step back, Liege brought his pick down. The familiarity of the motion comforted him, but did not ease his sense of suffocation. After mining for a bit, he heard the sounds of two other picks coming down in perfect rhythm. He compared the quick tempo to his own, slower beat. Would it be wise to mine at their rate or his own?

Liege brought down his pick again and again, always keeping a close optic on the ore.

His pace began to match the others.

* * *

Back to world building!

Cheers! :D


	5. Chapter 5

Here's that chapter, a day late. Sorry about that, but then, I'm lucky to have gotten any work done at all. It's that time of the year when almost nothing seems to get done.

Sorry about how short this chapter is, but hey! Quality over quantity, right?

And if people could pop over to Defiance and remind BlueInked why she started that story, I would appreciate it.

Onward!

* * *

_He could remember everything. _

_His batch, despite having died so rapidly, had been a good one. 954 and 982 had been the closest to him with personalities that seemed to complete each other. Despite their programming telling them that Decepticons were not to have attachments, they were inseparable. They had done all the greatest things together from racing among groups of humans to fighting Autobots side by side. When they had died, he had realized why he was not supposed to have attachments. Their departure was like a void, eating away at his spark slowly and steadily. _

_He could remember everything. _

_954 had been a nice mech. He could make anyone laugh, and wasn't afraid of being picked on. The poor mech always got into trouble. It wasn't his fault; trouble just seemed to like him. He would be getting energon and just happen to end up with the leaky cube. Or he would be going to work and trip a prank that was meant for some other drone. He was understanding and honest; two of the rarest traits in Decepticons. Some mechs would take advantage of him, but most just tried to help him out. They called his the 'Life of the Batch'. Apparently there was one in every crowd; someone that was just too good for their existence. _

_He could remember everything. _

_982 was more serious. According to him, everything was subject to fate and destiny. Primus and Unicron were real entities that were fighting for dominance in their sparks, and if one member of their batch went to the pit, then the rest would follow, according to him. 982 was always worried that the Decepticons were fighting for Unicron, though how he would be able to tell no one had known. He would worry about the smallest things. If it wasn't in Primus' moral guide lines, then something bad was sure to happen. Back then, he and 954 would laugh at 982's paranoia. _

_He could remember everything. _

_954 had been killed during a patrol shortly after their fragments had started to fade. He had promised to return and finish a game of Fullstasis with him. They had never found his body, according to Soundwave's records. With 954 gone, the batch had been shocked. Everything had gotten darker and 982 seemed to lose his voice, disappearing from sight. That night, he had died in recharge. Slowly, the others had passed away around him. Finally, it was just him. 999 was the only survivor. _

_He could remember everything. _

_Before his friends' deaths, he had been different. Calmer? Happier? He could remember pulling off stupid stunts for no other reason than to prove to himself that he could. One time, he had been driving on the top of the Nemesis with a parachute behind him to see if he could defeat the incoming force. Another time he had volunteered to assist a ground bridge test by jumping off the Nemesis and free-falling into a portal that Soundwave made. He couldn't remember why he had done these things, only that he had. _

_He could remember everything. _

_And that's what hurt the most. _

* * *

Liege onlined to another day, but he onlined earlier than usual. He ran a systems check to see what was wrong, but everything came clean except for his memory. He checked the time.

28 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes and 31 seconds since he had onlined with the others.

He couldn't understand the purpose of keeping track of time in the mine, nor what the units meant. The only good thing about his 'chronometer', as it was labeled, was that it helped keep everything organized. His next shift was in 47 minutes. His alarm was supposed to wake him in 37 minutes.

Liege sat up and looked around for what might have disturbed him. The tunnel he slept in was neither cold nor warm; its temperature was constant. There was no movement or sound unless it came from him. The energon he was cultivating glowed coldly. The ground was still.

His systems froze a split second when he realized that fact. The ground was never still. It always gave a rhythmic hum that lulled him into recharge. Sometimes it even gave a beat similar to his fire, though far slower. Those days the energon he grew seemed to darken slightly, but returned to its normal hue in an hour.

Why was the ground still?

Liege slowly made his way to the entrance of his tunnel, a new fear pounding in his fire. Something within him seemed to click into place, and his arm began to twist in ways that seemed impossible. He stared as the mutilated appendage stopped, forming a glowing triangle, and heat poured into the limb.

The sight of the gun, as his systems named it, caused a stalling. Was this right? Perhaps it was, though not as right as his pick in his hands. The stillness of the ground caught up to him again, and Liege pushed on forward.

He stepped out of the tunnel and into the light falling from the lighting apertures that Brain had crafted recently. They shone blue onto the dark ground and Block's grey protoform. Patch was recharging next to the wreck's tunnel and Brain was sitting in his corner etching his calculations into the walls while murmuring to himself. The Twins were not in sight, but they should be out mining in one of the tunnels. Everything appeared to be in place.

Block's visor flashed online and turned to him. The bands focused on Liege's hands.

"Liege," he spoke up, drawing Brain's attention to him from the wall, "What's wrong with your servo?"

Liege could feel the optical bands of both Block and Brain burning into his arms. He thought that was better than their bands focusing on his head. He looked at his arms.

"Oh," he murmured aloud. He had forgotten that his hands had transformed. "I—They're my battle systems, I think…"

"Battle systems?" Brain was at his side in a flash. "Really? What do they do?"

"Don't know," Liege muttered, "Something brought them online."

He looked up to see Block's optical bands flood with something familiar. Was it fear?

"This is amazing," Brain seemed to have fallen in love with Liege's arm holding the new device and twisting it about. This served to make Liege even more uncomfortable. "It appears to have been grafted into your arm. Perhaps the rest of us have this as well! Any idea on what the trigger might have been?"

"Danger," Liege said before he could fully process the question.

Then the ground began to shake.

Liege hit the ground and placed his hands against it in an attempt to stabilize himself. He looked up and saw Block curling up in his corner. Brain, he realized with a start, was hugging his arm. A small part of him noticed that the battle systems were offline. Most of his attention was on the ceiling, watching for debris that might fall. Something in the back of his processor was tracking the shakes, looking for patterns, and logging seemingly random data for later use.

From a tunnel, Liege could see four bands of light stumbling into the open. As soon as they appeared, part of the ceiling decided to fall off and onto the lights. Liege acted instinctively, throwing Brain off his arm and rushing to push the two individuals out of the way. The three flew back into the tunnel from which they came. And then all was black.

* * *

And...Cliffjumper!

Wait, I mean Cliffhanger. Don't know when I'll update next, but I promise to make it a chapter of both quantity and quality.

Oh, and to Beast Hunters! May you be better than the last season! Though I doubt you will!


End file.
